Everybody has a BreathDay. The day we celebrate our very first breath, and the trillions ever since. The day we give thanks for the sheer fact of breathing, for our existence, for the movement of life itself. Today is my day, the 30th of May.

Each year a ripening of awareness and presence. Each inhalation more precious, each exhalation more poignant and powerful. Every breath a gift of wonder and awe. A blessing, a teaching, a transmission to receive and to give.

We are breathing the breath of this Earth, weaving ourselves into the larger body of Nature, sharing elements forged in the birth and death of stars. Each breath is a miracle of creation, a ritual enactment and evidence of the sacredness of all life.

Our language makes of breath a thing, an object, as if it exists in and of itself. Yet breath is a relationship. It is an active flow and communion between ourselves and the forces of life and love. We participate. Breathing in, I receive the world; breathing out, I give back.

I live in a Galactic Body. I am at home in this universe, an eternal citizen of the Cosmos. In this moment, I inhabit the mystery of individuality, of matter - the vastness of inner space, velvet darkness and infinite shimmering particles of light - this very body of atoms, molecules, substances yet to be discovered and named. Energy pulsing in blood and nerve, in bone and skin, in eyes and lips and breasts. The mind-blowing fact of consciousness, of awareness permeating experience, of love.

This is my body, and yours. Our essential Nature. The marriage of spirit and flesh.

In my quest I encountered teachings that imply you're to transcend the body, evolve away from the earth plane, get off the wheel of incarnation. Early on I woke up to the realization that for me, here is where the action is. After all, the universe went to all this trouble to create us, billions of years of evolution, for what? If I can choose, said I, then let me play my part in this evolving experiment, be in the dance of consciousness in matter. Let me explore, love, play with these magnificent undulating energies we call the body!

Here we are, together. How can there be such love for our little blue-green Planet? Love, in fact, for the larger body of humanity? We are inescapably interconnected with one another, as any breath will attest. Goodness knows, there is suffering. It's a mixed bag, this human condition: the agony of conflict; the ecstasy of communion. Each moment offers us a choice.

Our BreathDay is a reminder, an awakening, a challenge. Breathing is an act of power and creation. It is also vulnerable, ever so fragile and fleeting. Each breath is a song of the soul, a vehicle for the voice of the heart. Can I listen deeply and hear your song? Can I hear and express my own? Can we commune and communicate in a way that transforms us both?

This very breath is a prayer:

May all beings know love and peace.May all be filled with joy and inspiration.May all claim their home in the universe, And breathe in their true body.May all beings feel valued and empowered,Recognizing themselves as divine expression -CreatingIn autonomy and community,In compassion for others and self,In abundance and freedom,Now and forevermore.